


Coin

by EnInkahootz



Series: The Snape Twins [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Twins, Angst, Brothers, Gen, Magic, Part of a series but stands on its own, Telepathy, Twins, Young Severus Snape
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 01:57:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17479046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EnInkahootz/pseuds/EnInkahootz
Summary: In an Alternate Universe where Severus is growing up with an identical twin named Silvanus, the young brothers are sorted into different houses at Hogwarts.  They've never slept apart, and are heartbroken at the prospect of residing in separate dormitories.





	Coin

It had never even occurred to Severus that he and his twin brother might be sorted into different houses. With the known magical bond shared by wizard twins, it seemed undeniably cruel to force them apart. They would be competing for house points, they would be taking separate classes, and worst of all, they would be sleeping in different dormitories.

Severus and Silvanus had slept in the same bed their whole lives. Despite Father’s decree that they were to sleep separately after the age of five, they had always ended up with insomnia or nightmares when they tried. But their mother was kind and understood the depths of the magical bond her twin sons shared; she looked the other way when Severus crawled into Silvanus’ bed each night as soon as Father had left the room. Severus didn’t feel it was a choice. Without his big brother near, there was simply no sleep to be found.

“Excuse me, Professor McGonagall,” Silvanus asked politely after the Sorting Ceremony was complete. The stern young professor who had led the ceremony turned and looked down at them.

“The Snape twins,” she observed, “what is it?” she asked impatiently.

“Well, Professor, you see, my twin brother and I were sorted into different houses, and, well, we were just wondering if there could have been some mistake?”

She looked at them strictly.

“No, the Sorting Hat does not make mistakes. Please join your respective houses.” She turned away again and hurried off to wherever she had been going, and Severus felt like he had been gutted.

“It’s alright, brother,” Silvanus whispered, squeezing Severus’ shaking hand, “we’ll think of something.” He wiped a tear from Severus’ cheek and only then did Severus realize he was crying in the middle of the Great Hall.

“Gryffindor, please come this way,” a prefect shouted. Severus clutched his brother’s hand desperately.

“Don’t go,” he pleaded.

_“It’s alright, brother,”_ Silvanus told him silently using the telepathic bond they shared as wizard twins, _“we can always talk this way, even in different dormitories.”_

_“You know that isn’t enough,”_ Severus cried wordlessly into Silvanus’ mind, _“it is not alright, it is not alright, please, do something -”_

“Gryffindor, come on now, hurry up, please,” the prefect was yelling. 

“No,” Severus whimpered aloud, still grasping Silvanus’ hand, “please don’t go.”

“I have to,” Silvanus said, his deep regret and pain evident, even though he always tried to put on a cheery face, _“but just for now,”_ he added with his thoughts, _“we will think of something. We’ll be together, Severus. I love you. Now stop crying before the other kids see you, little brother.”_

_“I love you, Silvanus,”_ Severus thought to him. Silvanus gave him what Severus knew was meant to be a reassuring smile, but it didn’t work. Severus swallowed down his sobs anyhow. Silvanus was right; if the other kids saw Severus’ tears, he would never be free of their taunts. He put on a mean face instead as he watched his brother walk away.

“Slytherin, get over here,” a different prefect demanded loudly, and Severus followed the voice, sorrow overwhelming him.

~

Severus lay on his stomach, crying silently into his pillow. The Slytherin dormitory felt nothing like home, and the emptiness of his new bed filled him with a panic that made sleep impossible.

_“Brother,”_ he heard Silvanus speak into his mind from the Gryffindor dormitory, _“don’t cry,”_ he said, but his own silent voice was breaking.

_“I cannot sleep without you,”_ Severus thought to him.

_“Me neither,”_ Silvanus replied.

They didn’t say anything to each other’s minds for a few minutes, but they could feel each other’s presence, sense one another’s emotions despite their physical distance. Severus could feel his brother’s sorrow, matching his own, but he could also feel Silvanus’ intense desire to soothe his little brother. Severus wished he could give Silvanus what he wanted, that he could find a way to be soothed. But at least they had this - at least their minds were connected, even from far away.

_“See, we are still together,”_ Silvanus whispered, _“no matter what.”_

_“It isn’t enough.”_

_“I know.”_

The brothers lay awake all night in their separate beds, in their distant dormitories, their minds vividly linked, but not speaking. Severus cried quietly, but he felt Silvanus holding in his tears.

~

“Mister Snape,” Professor McGonagall said the next morning, “the Headmaster wishes to see you.”

When Severus got to Professor Dumbledore’s office, Silvanus was already there, and Severus wanted to run to him. Instead he smiled, and his brother grinned at him and everything felt alright.

“Oh yes, here is the other one, and now we have the set: the Snape twins,” Dumbledore declared merrily, “sit, sit,” he told Severus. With relief, Severus sat beside his brother. Silvanus surreptitiously took Severus’ hand and squeezed it. 

“It was a challenging night,” Dumbledore observed, eyes on their hands as they rushed to pull them apart, embarrassed.

“Sir,” Silvanus said, his voice nervous, but brave, “could it be that the Sorting Hat made a mistake, and my brother and I should be in the same house?”

Dumbledore turned away from them and began to examine a set of shelves that stretched high up against the back wall of his office. Each shelf was crowded with intriguing objects that Severus didn’t recognize.

“The Sorting Hat does not make mistakes,” Dumbledore said, and Severus’ heart sunk.

Severus could tell that Silvanus was straining to think of what else he could say to win their case. Severus wanted to be brave like his brother.

“Headmaster,” Severus said shakily, “perhaps, because of the magical bond shared by twins and the difficulties of being parted, perhaps,” he felt terror grip him, but he pushed on, “maybe you could make an exception?”

Dumbledore turned around and grinned at Severus.

“Look at this,” he told them, setting an object on the desk. The two brothers stared at it. Dumbledore didn’t speak for several long minutes.

The item appeared to be a small ring. It was silver in color, but it cast a faint black aura. At first it appeared to be an open ring, but then the light glinted against it and a flat, reflective surface was revealed. It seemed that it wasn’t a ring after all, but a tiny, round mirror, or perhaps a slice of smooth metal - except a moment later it looked like a ring again.

Silvanus reached for it. Severus was afraid they were about to get in trouble, and he held his breath. 

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Dumbledore asked.

Silvanus was gazing at it in his hand, his palm open. Suddenly, the circle levitated and split into two matching discs. One floated in front of Severus and he put out his hand. It landed softly, appearing again as an open ring.

“They’d make good necklaces, I think,” Dumbledore suggested.

Severus and Silvanus exchanged confused glances.

“Are,” Silvanus ventured, “are these for us?”

“Well,” Dumbledore said, stroking his beard, “they aren’t for anyone, if not two sides of a coin have been split down the center.” He shrugged. “But as I said, the Sorting Hat does not make mistakes.”

Severus looked to his brother for guidance, but Silvanus was clearly just as perplexed as he was.

“Now off to breakfast, you two,” Dumbledore commanded jovially. He moved across the room with more graceful agility than a man his age ought to have and opened the door to usher them out.

~

Severus lay in bed that night, the mysterious ring on a leather cord around his neck. He closed his eyes and rubbed it between his fingers, clinging to his hope -

“Severus?”

Severus opened his eyes and saw his brother sitting beside him. He reached for him, and they hugged before Severus thought to survey their surroundings. They weren’t in the Slytherin dormitory, or any dormitory at all. They were on a bed, and it felt like Silvanus’ bed at home. But they weren’t at home either because the bed was floating in a soft haze of nothingness.

“Where are we?” Severus asked.

“I don’t know,” Silvanus replied, “but we’re together.” He climbed under the covers beside Severus. “Let’s just sleep. I am so tired, brother.”

Severus was also exhausted from having been awake the night before, but he couldn’t relax without knowing what was happening. He peered off into the distance and saw a rectangular shadow. He realized it was approaching them, and he wasn’t sure what to do. As it neared, he saw it was a giant book, and as it passed by them, he noticed the cover. It read: “A Book By Severus Snape,” and at once Severus recognized it from a dream he had the week prior.

“I think we’re in my dreams,” Severus observed, “but it feels so real.” He patted his body and found he felt solid. He pushed a fingernail into his skin to see if he could detect the sensation; he could, and yet, more familiar images floated by, each sparking memories of recent dreams.

“Not just yours,” Silvanus said, pointing at a red ball bouncing past them with a giant sparkling lizard clinging to its surface, “I dreamt that three nights ago.”

“It’s a shared dreamscape,” Severus said with awe. He looked down at the necklace Dumbledore had provided.

“Wow,” Silvanus said with wonder as he gazed at his own necklace. Then he yawned loudly. “Can we sleep now?”

In each other’s arms, it was a matter of seconds before they drifted off. In the morning they woke up in their respective dormitories, but the pain of being parted was a little easier now. Severus missed his brother every moment they weren’t together, but no matter how long the day felt, Severus always knew that when he went to bed they would meet in their dreams.


End file.
